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DrummerCafe

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About DrummerCafe

  • Birthday 01/19/2022

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    drummercafe.com
  • occupation
    Professional Drummer & Percussionist
  • hobbies
    music, watergardening, biking, web design
  • Location
    Nashville, TN
  1. Just a couple of points to make: 1) Plexi-glass will NOT make the drums quieter. It will only keep the attacks from spilling over into other mics (like the vocalists) and remove directed sound from hitting the audience in the face. It does reflect the sound back in the drummer's face, which sometimes helps them realize just how loud they are playing. 2) The only real way to make the drums quieter ( ... well, besides playing softer) is through absorption. You need something fluffy to eat up the frequencies; like acoustical foam, insulation, etc. You can put acoustical foam on the plexi-glass which will help a bit. If you use plexi-glass, what you really need to do is put sound absorption material behind the drummer as well. When the sound is reflected back, bouncing off the plexi-glass, the additional material behind the drummer will eat more of the sound. 3) The cymbals are typically the real problem. They are set high enough where the spill out over the plexi-glass, and is usually no where near any foam or deadening material. 4) Don't put the drummer up against the back wall. The sound of the drums will just reflect off the wall and bounce all around the room. All the plexi-glass in the world won't help that. Try setting the drums off axis from any flat surfaces. The more strange angles you can create, the better the sound of the drums will dissipate before reaching the audience; like a bass trap in a studio. I would think that with a small congregation, with little or no money, the cheapest thing to do is get the drummer to play softer as was mention in earlier posts. If he is using arms when he plays, it's going to be loud. The drummer needs to work on controlling the sticks so that he can groove at various tempos and styles, while only letting the sticks travel a few inches above the drum. The higher the sticks go, the louder it will be. The shield idea can help some what. If you build your own, be sure to make it in small sections with hinges so you can angle the plexi-glass sections to reflect the sound in various directions. This will help break up the sound. It's a fact: if you want drums to sound good ... you've got to hit them. Tapping them doesn't move much air ... and isn't very rewarding sound wise. I guess that's why many churches go with electronic drums. Good Luck! ------------------ Bart Elliott http://bartelliott.com
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